Amey appeals against councillors' decision to block £200m incinerator

Amey is to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate following Cambridgeshire County Council’s rejection of its proposal to build a £200m energy-from-waste (EfW) facility at Waterbeach.

Council officers had recommended acceptance of the application, but councillors turned it down because of damage to the setting of the nearby 12th century Denny Abbey.

Amey said it was “surprised and disappointed” by this and that the proposed location, adjacent to existing waste disposal facilities, was the most appropriate place because it would provide ‘one-stop’ site for waste processing.

A company statement said: “Amey has therefore decided to submit an appeal…to overturn this decision, and is confident that an inspector will support its case.”

Amey had proposed to treat up to 250,000 tonnes a year of residual waste to create 27.4MW of electricity from a plant that required an 80m-high chimney. But objectors including South Cambridgeshire District Council said this would ruin the setting of Denny Abbey.

This was in response to a comment by Greater London Authority deputy mayor for environment and energy Shirley Rodrigues, who said a planned expansion of the company’s EfW capacity at Belvedere was not needed.

Cory is looking to build a second incinerator at its Riverside Energy Park, which would take in 655,000 tonnes a year of residual waste, if planning permission is granted.

Defra has insisted for a number of years that the UK will have enough treatment options to deal with expected residual waste volumes. But the Environmental Services Association has consistently warned of an impending capacity gap.

Cory Riverside chief executive Nicholas Pollard has warned that London is facing a “waste capacity crisis”, after Greater London Authority (GLA) deputy mayor for environment and energy Shirley Rodrigues said a planned expansion of the company’s energy-from-waste (EfW) capacity at Belvedere was not needed.

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